Poll: Reality and Movies - How Many People Can Swim?

[cerealnmuffin]

Many of my students (teaching in South Korea) don't know how to swim. That is perhaps due to them always having to go to school, study and extracurricular schools so little time is left for leisurely activities. I don't think a lot of the schools have swimming pools, but of that I'm not positive.

As for me, I can swim just fine. I used to be able to do the proper flip underwater-push off the wall when lap swimming. My technique is abysmal compared to what it was when I used to do half mile - mile lap swims, but I don't see how someone would just sink. After all, anyone should be able to doggy paddle and people are naturally buoyant.

 

[Yopaz]

I'm a decent swimmer and I usually try to swim once a week.

 

[Smiley Face]

I have a mild, partially overcome, fear of drowning that probably contributed to my not ever being particularly good at swimming. Either that, or my not being very good at swimming contributed to a fear of drowning. Either way, swimming and me have never really been on good terms.

Now, to be clear, I'm not like folks in the movies - they are HILARIOUSLY bad at swimming, just flapping around and sinking. I'd get there eventually, but I'd last some time before I wore out.

Now, the weird part about that is that I very much enjoy snorkelling/scuba diving, fear of drowning doesn't factor in.

 

[loc978]

I grew up on riverside property in the middle of nowhere... so yeah, I know how to swim, fight currents, escape small whirlpools, dive for lost flashlights in the dark...

But I imagine many people who have grown up in and never left a major city never learned.

So yeah, Waterworld girl? Total bullshit. I could swim when I was five, and I only lived next to a river, not on a barge in the middle of an ocean wasteland.

 

[Edible Avatar]

3 years on a swim team...
hated it.
I did'nt hate swimming, mind you (got several medals), but you can only swim so many laps until it gets boring.

so yes, i'm proficient at swimming

 

[VladG]

I'm a pretty good swimmer, but I know lots of people who can't swim. I've always been quite puzzled by this myself..

 

[z121231211]

There's some kind of genetics based pseudo-science that says black people's bones and musculature is more dense, so they sink, but that's mainly spouted by closet racists trying to justify their prejudices with science.

Yeah, I can understand having genetics that may make it harder for them to swim, but I believe those genetic differences are negligible at best, only really able to show themselves in the absolute most competitive areas.

I can swim, though in a way that I'll sink eventually. Was never really good at floating on my back in a way that'll not expend energy while still keeping afloat.

 

[Kaymish]

i can swim not very well as i havent swam in a decently deep water in ages but i can swim i only know one person who cant swim and i didnt believe him at first

 

[Blobpie]

I can doggy paddle.... doggy paddle like no man ever could doggy paddle!

 

[Right Hook]

I only have one friend who doesn't know how to swim, idk why he decided not to, plenty of my friends had pools in their backyards growing up, he'd go in but never the deep end. Swimming isn't hard at all, I think it is more of a self confidence thing, although I'm sure it is easier if you learn younger like most people seem to do. I personally can swim quite well, I took lessons as a kid, I'm no pro but I can swim in deep water for a long time if need be.

 

[Idlemessiah]

I can swim, have been able to since I was maybe 6-7.
I don't swim much so I find a gym maybe once a year or so to go check.

 

[Ross Tuddin]

I live in Australia it's either Death by Snakes and Spiders or Sharks and Crocodiles. and i don't have the same fondness for Snakes and Spiders.
Besides part of my primary school ciriculum (in grade 3 & 4) i think was swimming lessons.

 

[RedDeadFred]

Why yes I can swim quite well and I don't even live in an area that is near a large body of water.
Swimming is fun and also provides fantastic exercise.

 

[Screamarie]

Took classes when I was a little kid (yeah that water wasn't freezing at 7 in the morning). I know how to do some simple strokes, though it's been years since I've really employed them. And of course there's the doggy paddle and I know how to do a dead man's float. So yeah, I can at least not drown.

 

[Nouw]

I can't float using my legs, I've taken swimming lessons for three years and I still can't, but I can still swim. As long as I keep moving around I'll be fine.

Got the Water Survival Qualified rating for my swim qual. Drown proofing is fun training (That's where they bind your hands and feet and drop you in 10 ft of water)

Holy shit, that's hardcore. Pardon my saying but seriously, that's badass.

 

[smithy_2045]

If you can't swim, what's the point of living? Being able to swim facilitates many enjoyable activities, including swimming itself.

 

[Ieyke]

I don't really understand how people can't swim. It's really just beyond me, I never learned to swim, I always knew how to swim. When my parents enrolled me in swimming lessons, there wasn't anything for me to learn at first, I knew how to stay afloat, it's just common sense.

Yup. And I was the same way with roller blading and driving(aside from learning street signs and driving stick, obviously) too. *shrug*

 

[Garyn Dakari]

Sort of...I don't swim very well, but I can tread water, and get around in a pool alright. I didn't know how to swim at all until I was 14, and got swim lessons.

Why?

Because my mother had "Done pools" before, and didn't want to take us(Me and my siblings) to any pools or rivers to learn. And of course, being 14(16 now), I couldn't(And still can't) drive, so I couldn't go anywhere myself. She finally took us to swimlessons when I was 14, and we learned the basics, then we stopped going. Still don't go to any pools, lakes, or rivers to practice though, and it's been a long time since I've practiced, so I don't know how well I'd do now.

So yeah...I love being in the water, and swimming, I just don't really get the chance very often. Still, if I was dropped in the ocean, I think I could survive for a while...Maybe...

 

[TheDarkestDerp]

Nope, never got the hang of swimming. But I can sink like nobody's business!